What Will Foles Do For An Encore?

On Wednesday evening, Nick Foles became a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His game-worn jersey and cleats, along with the ball from his seventh touchdown pass last Sunday at Oakland, were put on full display.

“Somebody sent me the picture, and it was really neat,” Foles said. “It’s a great honor.”

It was indeed quite the accomplishment for the young Eagles quarterback, but he’s already putting the record-tying game against Oakland behind him. In typical Foles fashion, he spoke on Thursday about the importance of going out and playing with consistency at the quarterback position.

“Consistency is the key to any position and it’s the key to anything that you do,” said the second-year pro. “You don’t want to have a drastically bad day and then a great day - you just fluctuate too much. We all strive to be consistent, and a lot of that had to do with preparation and what we do in the week, and then just putting what we did during the week on the game field.”

As Foles looks to lead the Eagles to their second consecutive win on Sunday, spreading the ball around to all of his targets, as he did in Oakland, may be the key to finding success. Five different players caught a touchdown pass and seven of Foles’ teammates hauled in at least one reception.

“I try my best to throw it to the open guy, and that just comes with preparation,” Foles said. “Obviously there are going to be times when there are matchups and I’m looking to see who my best matchup is on that given play with the concept or the play that we have on. I never go into a game saying, ‘Hey, I’m going to give this guy five balls.’ It just so happens that when you really read out plays, you try to get it to the open guy. It varies because the defense will take away one guy and it will open up someone else.”

This weekend, Foles’ counterpart at the quarterback position will be Seneca Wallace, who will be making his first start as a member of the Packers. For the first time this season, Wallace will have a full week’s worth of first-team practice snaps, but according to Foles, that doesn’t guarantee a strong performance.

“I can’t really speak for him, but I know that in my situation that - and I’m sure he does too - you always prepare like you’re a starter,” Foles explained. “You get mental reps and when you have reps in practice that helps a lot with just getting a feel for the guys, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to play better. I’ve been there and I’ve had reps and I haven’t played well, and I’ve gone into a game where I haven’t played well, so it just varies.”

Through the peaks of the Raiders game and the valleys of the Cowboys game, Foles’ attitude has remained at the same, even-keeled level. As the University of Arizona product explained, that’s just how he is, and nothing is going to make him change.

“I have great players around me and great parents that have raised me and people that have surrounded me throughout my career that have helped shape who I am, and that’s who I go out and play for every single day,” Foles said. “I don’t play for myself - I play for my teammates and for the people that have helped me get to where I am, because I know that they watch me every week, and I want to play for them. That’s just who I am.

“I’m very fortunate to be here playing, and like I’ve told you before, any given day could be your last, and I’ll be thankful for the time that I have had to play this game, but I’m going to give it my all every single day, so why would I let my confidence and all of the frustrations affect me when I know that it’s only a short time that I can play this game? It’s not worth getting all distraught and mad and getting too high or too low. I just want to be me. It’s as simple as that.”